When enjoying golf at a field golf course, players hit a golf ball from a tee box or fairway to land upon a green with a hole cup. When several players play on the green landed thereby, each golf player indicates the position of his/her golf ball to be putted by placing a golf ball marker at the green position where the golf ball has been landed such that the golf ball normally does not interfere with the other players' putting.
Such golf ball markers are generally manufactured in the form of coins, but there is a problem in that the golf ball markers may not be easily recognized on an inclined green or at the opposite side with respect to the hole cup due to the relatively thin thickness thereof.
In order to solve such a problem, Korean Patent No. 10-1042518 (published on Jun. 17, 2011) discloses a technique for golf ball markers. The prior art golf ball marker includes a plate-shaped body having a predetermined thickness, a direction-indicating needle hinged at one end thereof to the upper portion of the body to indicate the direction of the hole cup from a position where the ball is placed, a pivot member that allows the direction-indicating needle to be pivotally coupled to the body, and a weight member coupled to the lower portion of the body via multiple support pins to support the ball marker such that the ball marker does not move when the ball marker is placed on the green. The golf ball marker having such a configuration is advantageous in that the golf ball marker is able to accurately indicate the direction from the golf ball placed on the green to the hole cup, allows a situation such as a green slope to be quickly grasped, and is easily visible even from the opposite side with respect to the hole cup.
However, the golf ball marker proposed in this prior art still requires improvement in terms of the following points, and constant development is demanded.
For example, the weight itself for preventing movement on the green has an advantage in preventing movement, but is accompanied by a disadvantage in carrying due to its heavy weight. Further, the golf ball marker is poor in the convenience of carrying and use since the golf ball marker is not provided with a structure or configuration that allows the golf ball marker to be easily fixed to a user's body, clothes, or a bag or to be easily detached for use.
In addition, the structure in which the direction-indicating needle pivots upwards with respect to the body is improved in visibility compared with the conventional thin coin type golf ball marker in that it can be confirmed from anywhere on the green. However, when the amount of sunshine is small, for example, on a cloudy day, early morning, or sunset, the golf ball marker is also difficult to recognize like the prior art golf ball marker, and thus a structural improvement or a configuration addition to secure visibility is required.